GHA to build a world-class, all-weather pitch at Braidholm

Project due to be completed by early-November

GHA will break ground on a new, state-of-the-art and entirely self-funded 3G pitch at Braidholm later this month

GHA RUGBY CLUB have announced that they will break ground later this month on the construction of a world-class, all-weather artificial pitch at their Braidholm base, with work due to be completed in early-November.

This project is being paid for through a combination of fundraising, member donations, commercial sponsorship, grants and borrowing. “We believe we are the first club in Scotland to build one without council backing or through selling off land to a developer,” said GHA Director of Rugby Rangi Jericevich.

The new surface will be fully compliant for adult, 15-aside rugby, although the intention is to continue using the grass pitch in front of the stand for 1st XV matches, unless weather dictates otherwise. The 3D rendering on the image accompanying this article is not quite accurate as the pitch will be surrounded by a spectator rail rather than the fencing shown.

JWF Process Solutions – Scotland’s leading Instrumentation and Measurement Systems supplier – have agreed a ten year deal as title sponsors of the new facility, which involves the naming rights for the new pitch and branded pitch dressing including post protectors, corner flags and floodlight stanchion banners. There will also be a continuation of their existing sponsorship commitments on the 1st XV strips and their perimeter advertising board.

“The sponsorship is a legacy to my late father (Jimmy Fairbairn), who was the first grounds convener at the club in the early 70s,” said JWF Managing Director Kenneth Fairbairn. “Indeed, he was one of the many volunteers at that time who unearthed chunks of car and significant pieces of debris from the Braidholm ground area provided by the local council. He sadly passed away in 1976, age 49, so my brother Jim and I can think of no better way to acknowledge his and indeed the many other individuals’ efforts of that time, who all had the common goal of promoting the game of rugby at Braidholm and the Southside of Glasgow – this will be a legacy to them all.”

GHA club President Brian Tracey believes the new ‘JWF 3G Pitch’ will help the club to meet it’s ambitions as a community hub going forward.

“The building of the new JWF 3G Pitch at Braidholm is a historic moment for our club and we are extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed towards making this development happen,” he said.

“On behalf of the club, I would like to thank JWF for their generosity in supporting the development as title sponsors, extending the support they have provided to the club over the years. This sponsorship deal has been crucial to getting our ambitious project over the line.

“Finally, I would like to thank Brian Williams, Chairman of the GHA Sports Trust, who has dedicated so much of his time driving this project forward over the past 12 months.”

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David has worked as a freelance rugby journalist since 2004 covering every level of the game in Scotland for publications including The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday/Evening News, The Herald/Sunday Herald, The Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday and The Sun.